Wow! The promos of this film with the protagonist Auro(Amitabh Bachchan) playing a teenage boy suffering from a very rare disease have made the audiences eyes pop out and stand in applaud.
Plot/Story:-
The story mainly revolves around Auro(Amitabh Bachchan). He is an intelligent and witty boy living along with his mother Vidya(Vidya Balan) and grandmother(Arundhati Nag) whom he fondly calls "bum". He turns out to be quite unusual since he is suffering from a very rare and deadly disease called Progeria which involves accelerated ageing of the body. Although he is mentally 13, physically he appears 5 times his age.But, he is one of the most loved and admired child in his school.
One fine day, his school authorities decide to invite a politician named Amol Atre(Abhishek Bachchan) for an event in the school. Amol is a very ambitious person and is out to prove to the world that the word’politics’ is not a bad word. When he arrives, he is quite impressed by the talent of the children displayed in art works. He then focuses his attention on a white globe and wonders as to who made it. It is then when he meets Auro, preceded by the hails of the school children for him.
Later at home, Vidya switches on the television and happens to see Amol at the school event in the news. She then recalls her flashback that she had an illegitimate relationship with him and Auro is the result of that relationship. Initially, she conceals this truth from Auro, but later when Auro discovers the truth, he decides to get closer to Amol. He coerces Amol to go to Delhi along with him, but with a mission of trying to get his parents closer. Initially Vidya refuses this since Amol was not with her in times of need in order to fulfill his political ambitions.
Later, Amol realizes that Auro is his son and his mistake though, and proposes to Vidya, as he is still in love with her. He stays by Auro’s side when he finds out that Auro is his son. Auro’s health begins to deteriorate as he reaches his 13th birthday, his physical defects catching up. However, he is finally able to reunite his mother and father once again as Vidya gives in to her feelings for Amol and her motherly love for Auro. Auro, succumbing to his disease, said his last words "Maa" and "Paa" before dying happily.
Performances/Direction:-
Undoubtedly, the soul and the best performer of the film would be Amitabh Bachchan, playing the character of a teenage boy with absolute ease. More importantly, the look and make up is the main reason which added to the performance. Vidya Balan too portrays her role as a mother with a troubled past with great effect. Abhishek Bachchan fits into the role of a young and honest politician(he may remind you of Rahul Gandhi or Milind Deora).
Other perfromances as that of Paresh Rawal playing Abhishek’s father and Arundhati Nag playing Vidya’s mother were quite good.
The director, R Balki, although attributed with just a few films, has done an excellent job. He managed to convince Amitabh Bachchan to get into this role, which probably anyone else would have seemed quite impossible. He also manages to grab a good, but simple storyline into effect.
Music:-
Paa’s music was composed by veteran composer Ilayaraja and some tracks such as the’Paa theme’ or Mudi Mudi sung by Shilpa Rao were superhits before the film’s release. Other songs include Hichki Hichki, Gumm Summ, Halke se Bole. Shilpa Rao, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan and Amitabh Bachchan were some who lent their voices to the film.
Awards :-
Paa received 14 nominations and 5 awards at the Star Screen Awards. It also had 5 nominations and won 2 awards in the recently held Filmfare Awards.